congrats on the future sex Also, as some of you may know, I don't know shit. Sometime over the last week of Danny Ric interviews and blurbs about his future he said something about Indy Car still scares him, something about oval racing. Can one of you explain what he is talking about? I thought F1 drivers were fearless and the best drivers in the world, so I'm confused.
The average speed at which you take an oval corner in an IndyCar is 200-240mph, which makes the potential for catastrophic crashes a lot higher. They’re also completely boxed in by walls and fences. There’s really no runoff, no gravel, no tires, no tecpro. Just straight into a high-g wall impact when shit goes sideways. Plus those fields are tight, making contact hard to avoid. Oval racing in an open wheel car is just inherently more dangerous. Many time Nascar (30 ovals a year for 20 years) champion Jimmie Johnson retired and did an IndyCar stint where his wife famously said no ovals. logie bear has an IndyCar test. If he gets a seat and makes it to an oval, whooo boy, he’s in for a a ride because that shit is going to hurt when he inevitably crashes.
Indycars are much tougher though is my understanding so while it hurts it's not like death is always on the table either right?
They’re more robust from a construction standpoint in some respects than F1 cars. Most of that is the need to survive contact and race a chassis and most of the components for potentially years due to budget issues. It’s just not on the same planet as f1 in the financials. Safety overall is very similar. The aero screen adds a layer of protection (those are made by Red Bull, btw) as it basically adds a wrap around the halo. Plus the rear of the IndyCar screen is mostly level, where f1 halos slope downward. That part bugs me when you still have some helmet exposure with halos. I think the main thing is that the higher energy that gets put through very similar components in an oval crash has to go somewhere, which means more is left undissipated for the driver’s body. Cars also end up airborne and upside down frequently. That combined with the increased rate at which you’re potentially at risk for a high speed crash adds up to a higher injury and mortality rate. Indianapolis is the historically deadliest motorsports venue, and the modern era of IndyCar has claimed a few more lives than the f1 ladder, almost all of them on ovals. I’m not saying indycars are a death trap by any means. The safety is absurd, and the last 5 or so years are tremendously more safe. It’s just marginally higher risk, and I get how that can be terrifying. On a more mundane level, a little wiggle on a road course puts you over a curb, but you recover. On an oval you smack a wall, which I can only assume feels like getting tackled by a linebacker at those speeds.
Seems like a chicken shit dodge. Are they worried about ruining a young driver because they have a shit ride? I'm thinking like holding out an inexperienced QB from playing in 1st year w OL issues, don't want to destroy his confidence type situation? While Sauber has reportedly made the call to retain Valtteri Bottas, a rising star is also being eyed as part of a succession plan. Sauber were one of the first players to make a move in the latest F1 driver market, signing Nico Hulkenberg for F1 2025 and beyond into the Audi era, as the German automotive giant prepares to take over Sauber and form their works team for F1 2026. Gabriel Bortoleto to join as Valtteri Bottas Audi successor? And with the months having passed since that Hulkenberg announcement, Sauber/Audi are yet to announce the German’s F1 2025 team-mate, though according to Blick, the decision has been made, one which will see Bottas retain his seat in a one-year extension, and which respected F1 reporter Roger Benoit called the “cowardly transfer route”. Sauber had been linked with bringing a younger racer into the fold, the likes of Formula 2 Championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto mentioned, as well as Franco Colapinto who is impressing at Williams since replacing Logan Sargeant. Sauber also has the reigning Formula 2 champion Théo Pourchaire in its ranks. And despite the apparent choice to retain Bottas for F1 2025, Blick is reporting that a young driver will also be signed for next season, giving them a behind-the-scenes role to learn the ropes, with Audi wanting that driver ready to go for F1 2026. Blick claim that Bortoleto is likely to be the driver of choice. Off the back of winning the 2023 Formula 3 title, Bortoleto was signed to the McLaren driver programme and is now looking to go back-to-back as he sits atop the F2 standings with two rounds to go, Bortoleto bidding to replicate the achievement of current McLaren F1 driver Oscar Piastri who won the F3 and F2 titles in consecutive seasons. And McLaren team boss Andrea Stella has said that they would be willing to clear Bortoleto to join Sauber if that offer came from Audi’s new F1 chief Mattia Binotto, McLaren’s line-up looking stable for the long term with Lando Norris and Piastri. “If Binotto came to me, when you have such a talent, definitely, you’re not going to stop him having a chance in Formula 1,” Stella told the media in Baku. That being said, McLaren are not comfortable with completely severing ties with Bortoleto. “At the same time, we will be definitely interested in finding a way to keep him in the McLaren family, because I think he’s a talent that in the future, could be important for McLaren,” Stella continued. “We are safe for the long term with our two drivers, we couldn’t be any happier, but definitely we would like to keep him in the McLaren family, but I’m sure we could find a solution.” Sauber are the only team yet to score their first point of the F1 2024 Championship.
Bummed that danny ric got such a weird send off. It would have been pretty easy to tell everyone it would be his last race. You could tell by the way he got out of the car at the end that it was over. Excited to see what Lawson does. Lots of pressure for him, feels similar to when de Vries stepped in for a race and scored points in the Williams, and then everyone thought he would be amazing.
https://www.si.com/fannation/racing...rgio-perez-retirement-imminently-01j8py62c98m Well there's no way to post that in a good way so apparently Checo is out, it's being announced in Mexico
It needed to happen but I’m pretty bummed about it being official. Super shitty way to send him out too
Lawson said in an interview they told him 2 weeks before Singapore that he would be in the car in Austin. So seems redbull just fucked the whole thing up with how it was reported. sucks he just had to deal with everyone asking if it was his last race and he couldn’t really answer.
Andretti started another SPAC and Zack Brown is on its board What Michael Andretti Stepping Down Could Mean for F1 Bid Racing team owner and global business figure Michael Andretti is relinquishing his ownership stake in Andretti Global, a company spokesperson confirmed to The Drive on Friday afternoon. However, Andretti—the son of Formula 1 champion and racing legend Mario Andretti—will “continue to serve as a strategic advisor and key ambassador.” While it’s too early to tell, this recent move will undoubtedly have a major effect on the outfit’s hopes to compete in F1 come 2026. “Michael’s goal has been to transition to a more strategic role with Andretti Global and focus less on the operational side of the race team,” a spokesperson for Andretti Global told The Drive. “He and Dan Towriss have been working on a structure of what this could look like and have reached a direction that Michael is very happy with and believes will bring a positive future. “Michael remains engaged and will continue to serve as a strategic advisor and key ambassador. We will have more to share in the coming weeks after Michael and Dan have had an opportunity to speak to the team,” they added. Sportico published a report Friday morning divulging Andretti’s transition, citing three sources close to the matter. It’s believed that Towriss—who runs Gainbridge and Group 1001—will step into Andretti’s shoes, but this has not been confirmed. In April of last year, it was revealed that Andretti Global—then Andretti Autosport—welcomed Towriss as a new co-owner. News of the ownership change broke almost by accident when Towriss joined Andretti in receiving the owner’s trophy at IndyCar’s Long Beach Grand Prix. Despite a jam-packed schedule due to his business ventures, Towriss is a constant presence at most if not all of the series’ races. And, judging by Andretti Global’s statement today, it would appear that both Andretti and Towriss have been preparing for this moment for a long time. What Does This Mean for the Andretti Cadillac F1 Team? I’ll be clear that it’s too early to know for sure which way things will swing, but it’s not hard to do some intelligent speculation. If you’ve been following the saga of F1 versus Andretti, you know that Liberty Media’s decision to reject Andretti’s entry for 20205 was downright personal. F1 said that Andretti would not be competitive, would dilute the value of the series, and would take away attention and therefore money from established teams. Sure—so long as you pretend all current F1 teams are competitive, bring value to the series, and add to the pot of money that the teams share. The real reason why their bid was snubbed appears to be because of a personal feud between Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei and the Andretti family. Don’t believe me? Here’s this hell of a one-liner from Maffei at the Miami GP this year: “Mario, I want to tell you that I will do everything in my power to see that Michael never enters Formula 1.” It’s worth noting that neither Maffei nor Liberty Media ever rejected that reported exchange. And who could forget about the time that F1 rang up General Motors and asked them to partner with literally anyone but Andretti? Yeah, that also happened. Michael’s stepping down from the ownership role and letting someone else unrelated to the family captain the ship is a smart move, and it could help Andretti Cadillac’s situation. If Liberty Media hates Mario and Michael so much, perhaps they’ll love Towriss. After all, he’s already been spending loads of money as a sponsor in F1. Every bit helps, y’know? Perhaps Maffei and F1 would be willing to open the door to Andretti Cadillac as long as an Andretti is not at the helm—or maybe they won’t? Swapping the leading man is a good start, though a sad one. The racing business is already brutal enough without this drama worthy of a Mexican telenovela. While not everyone’s cup of tea, Mario, Michael, and even Marco (who stopped racing full-time a few years back) have done and continue to do their fair share of good for the racing industry. They employ hundreds of people, bring in sponsors, and continue to promote motorsports worldwide through their IndyCar, Indy NXT, Formula E, Extreme E, IMSA, Super Copa, and Australian Supercars teams. Maybe a year from now, we can add Formula 1 to that list.
Hard to say on the f1 front. On the IndyCar front that’s 2 teams in the last few days taking on corporate ownership partners/changes in the wake of a new charter agreement.
Snoozefest on Cadillac in F1. I know it's just a name, but they basically gave up on performance post CT5V.
I mean they were on the Le Mans hypercar podium last year in the first year back, won the IMSA title last year as well. Have a pole in WEC this year. Not exactly lighting the world on fire, but they can hang.
What I mean is I hate brands that don't really have performance cars tacking a name on things, especially in F1.
For those considering going now or in the future, for value of the ticket I would order it Saturday, Friday, Sunday. FP3 into Quali is the best part of the weekend live.
Yeah, if you're gonna do it, all three days is the way. Also, I enjoyed COTA (as a former Austin resident) but would go Montreal x1000 over. Not sure of cost now, but bet it's similar. Just an awesome experience.